


21st Century Blues

by orphan_account



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 21st Century, Drabble, Gen, Other nations are mentioned but the fic is totally China-centric, Yao and the 21st Century, mildly sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 21:26:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17732954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The world used to be so much smaller.





	21st Century Blues

Yao knows it’s selfish of him to think of the past so much while he is thriving in the present but he can’t help but miss it. The days when he only had to memorize a few names and he worried about nothing but his trade routes with Rome and what Mongolia was doing were some of the best decades of his entire life. It’s hard not to miss that kind of happiness.

Now there are too many names to memorize, too many things to worry about, and too many things that loom in the future that only a century ago he wouldn’t have ever thought could be a possibility. The world used to be so much smaller. Yao wonders what happened, what changed, like he doesn’t already know. Like he didn’t see the change happen with his own eyes.

But there are many good things in the present, that can’t be denied. He is strong again, like he’s supposed to be. He has power and wealth and knows that the next century will be shaped by his hands. It feels nice to be on top again. It feels _right_. If the world had to grow for him to take back his rightful place on the stage then so be it.

Though the world had gotten bigger, the distance between everything seemed to have shrunk. Trips that would have taken months in the past now only take a day. Planes are still one of his favorite modern inventions for that reason alone, though they should learn to serve better food. He can also talk to people without having to be there in person or without having to actually speak a single word. His smartphone keeps him sane, he half jokes to Ivan, because he’s sure if he speaks with America in person too much he’ll lose it. Convenience is the motto of the 21st century and Yao isn’t complaining.

So why does he constantly find himself dreaming of the past? The answer is simple: because it wasn’t so complicated.

The 21st century is so painfully complicated. Yao can keep up of course, never let it be said that China falls behind his fellow superpowers, but sometimes he wonders if it’s worth it when things are changing every day. Things hadn’t ever changed this much, this fast before. Maybe that’s why it was so difficult for Yao to let go of the past despite all his recent good fortune.

He scrolls through his current favorite video website, though it isn’t really his favorite because he knows there isn’t much point in getting attached to it because he’ll find a better one someday and forget all about this one, and forces his mind not to wander by searching for a video he saw last week of pandas swimming together. If the internet was good for anything it was good for giving him endless distractions.

A live video of two people enjoying the rain in London appears as he scrolls. He would have given anything to have the technology to create live streams when Rome was still around and the second that thought pops into his head he forces it away. Instead he thinks about how much he loves videos like that one because they always make the world seem less big.

The past seemed comforting and the future seemed daunting, but the present wasn’t so bad. It was the little things that made it good, that made Yao glad he had lived long enough to see it. He tries not to think about if Rome would have felt the same way.

**Author's Note:**

> Immortal characters being sad about everything changing so fast but also enjoying new revolutionary tech is one of my favorite things so of course I had to apply it to everyone's favorite grandpa! 
> 
> As usual feel free to send me a request or prompt on [my tumblr](http://hoodienanami.tumblr.com)  
> 


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